The Hipster Grifter wrote back to me! http://bit.ly/GJt75
At a party recently I was talking to Michael Malice, who co-founded Overheard in New York, about the history of the blog-to-book trend. We were trying to recall the first instance of a blog becoming a book, but couldn't think of it. Coincidentally, Urlesque has published a timeline (and story) of the meme, which credits Tucker Max as the founding occurrence (30 days before Overheard). This somehow seems wrong.
Observer: Heffernan pitching book to do for the internet what Sontag did for photography.
Whoasky. Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, and the Computer. Bukowski used a computer; Burroughs did not! Not only that, but this story credits Bukowski's creative explosion in 1991 to the Macintosh IIsi. [via]
So there's a decent profile of January Jones in GQ, but I bet the time between pageload and clicking the "see the slideshow" link just broke a land speed record.
Robin says: "If Dan Reetz didn't exist, it would be necessary for Cory Doctorow to invent him." He's talking about this interesting Russian guy who lives in North Dakota who built his own book scanner.
"Search Engine Optimization is not a legitimate form of marketing. It should not be undertaken by people with brains or souls. If someone charges you for SEO, you have been conned." Previously: Bad Strategies.
I'll give anything a chance, which is why my TiVo gets overloaded in the Fall when I allow every new show to get at least three episodes of viewing. It's now the third week, which means it's time to clean out the TiVo. As of last night, I have officially dropped Cougar Town, Melrose Place, Leno, The Beautiful Life, The Middle, The Forgotten, Glee, and Eastwick. That leaves Flashforward and Community as the only new shows that will survive this bloodbath.
My pal Hugh today launched a campaign for a noble cause: get Tracy Morgan onto Twitter. (Service announcement.) Vote yes!
Wow. This seems impossible to believe, but last night's Vikings/Packers game was the most-watched program in cable history. Go midwest!
Following the New Yorker profile, Gawker is offering $1000 for photos of blogger Nikki Finke. If you include Eater's little gimmick to give you $25 for shutting down your food blog, this is becoming a strange little trend: micropayments as a form of promotion.
This NYC-sponsored looks like a good idea in principle, but the paltry rewards don't seem like enough incentive to start something: NYC Big Apps.
This reads a little bit too much like a glowing book jacket cover blurb, but it also looks enticing:
It's the first great novel about the Internet; it's one of the best books of any kind I've ever read about identity on any level. It is brilliant and it is essential; it should be required reading not only for anyone who uses the Internet, but for anyone who cares about contemporary American fiction.
[via]
The FTC ruled today that bloggers must disclose any freebies or payments they get for reviewing products. Update: Fines are up to $11,000.
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A fimoculous is a micro-organism that consumes its own waste for sustenance.